Card table



A. KAUFMANN July 29, 1930.

CARD TABLE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed NOV. 25, 1928 July 29, 1930. A. KAUFMANN 1,771,851

' CARD TABLE Filed Nov. 23, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 dz'// i X L; T"

Patented July 29,-1930' UNITED 4 STATES PATENT orr cs AUGUST KAUFMANN, or rnmrn, rnoanm been ream Application filed November eat-1 92s. Serial No. 321,462.

My invention relates to card tables of the conventionaltype, and more particularly to.

devices incorporated in such tables forthe assistance of. the players, and my mam ob-j 5 ject is to provide a novel table-top structure p with an array of signal devices which may be handily operated to indicate incidents in;

the card game.

A further object of the invention is to 7 10 corporate av set of signal devices peculiarg to the incident of dealing cards, such devlces, operating to indicate the particular Statw next due for dealing the cards.

A still further object of the lnvention 5-to provide an array of signals whereby to" indicate the chosen' trump during a given deal.

enable each player to fully operate the signal arrangement. 4 v I A final, but nevertheless important-[object of the invention is, to construct the novel table-top along simple linesand'with an op erative mechanism of a character familiar to those skilled in the particularartr With the above objects'in' vle'w andany others that may suggest' themselves in the specification and claims to fol1ow,a'better understanding of the invention maybe' had' by reference to the accompanying" drawing, in which i 1 Figure 1 is a plan view of the noveltabletop; 1

Fig. 2 is an edge"view thereof; partly broken away; and Fig.3isadiagr of the electrical circuits H employed for theinvention. I

It is a I the more popular card;"gan1jes-.the diflicnlty often presents itselif ae- -tg h i nextv become so ab-- sorbed in the movement' 'o current deal.

dealer, the players he.

' settle, the point.

Another object of the invention is to':,de--

marked ends are arranged like the points of the compass,xthe arrows pointing to the stations of the players. Between the arrow legends I proaminatic view illustrative ide egends E, F, G, and H for the typiamiu'ar-aa its the playing of,

the station or identity of the party next to deal escapes their minds, and the game is necessarily interrupted by an argument to v The same condition apliesto the maintenance of a given trump, it frequently being a matter of doubt between the'players as to what trump was declared. The two items in question thus require the attention and memory of the player along lines actually extrinsic of the workings of thega'me, and it is my intention to relieve the players of the responsibility to memorize or keep track of these items in order to avoid confusion, mistakes, or the possibility of one "'or more players taking advantage in this respect through lack of vigilance on the part of another player or players. I have therefore devised the novel signal arrangement to relieve the players of special attention along these lines and to make the operation of the dealing and trump incidents positive and visible to all the players.

Refer-ringspecifically to the drawing, 5 denotes the table-top and 6 the legs of a conventional card table suitable for fourplayers. The table top is flat, and for the purpose of the s1gnals referred to above, I u11d the table-top hollow and cut the top surface thereof with a series of openings correslponding to the positions of the legends icatmg thej slgnals. The openings are flushly inlaldwith glass panels 7, and under each panel I provide an electric lamp unit 8 whereby to 1lluminate the panel.

The arrangement of thesignalpaneIS is 1n a cluster aboutthe center of the table.

'Thus', .I.first provide legends in the form of outwa'r'dl ointing arrows these bein X, 3 0'", and'D. "lhe arrow leg cal 'ca'rd suit. Thus, the legend E is that .of clubs, 'the legend F of hearts, etc. In

ed, etched orotherwise marked on the under side of the panel facing; however, thepanel 'B, C, etc. to correspond with the circuit further and almost invisible,

for the clock indicator is left lain for the clear vision of the clock dial elow.

In order to signal the incidents of vthe arrangement just described, I provide an electric network within the table-top, controlling the same by a set of push buttons marked A, the marking of the indicator le ends. Each side of the table is equipped with a like set of push buttons, the only difference in the marking of the push buttons being that the first or central push button has the marking of the arrow legend at a point 90 distant in a clockwise directions, that is, on the left hand side of the player opposite the push button mentioned. Thus, the push button A is'opposite the arrow D, the push button B is opposite the arrow A, etc. However, the controlling factor of the push buttons is true to the corresponding legends, so that the operation of the push button A illuminates the lamp under the arrow A, the operation of the push button 13 illuminates the arrow B, and so on. Also, the operation by any player of the buttons E, F, G, or H, serves to illuminatIeI the particular suit legend E, F, G, or

The electrical circuit involved in the'control of the signal indicators is so arranged that the operation of any arrow button A, B,

etc., imparts continuous energy to the corresponding lamp; also, such operation serves to extinguish any of the suit indicators E, F, G, or H that may then be in operation. The circuit is further designed that when once a given arrow indicator receives illumination, any push button E, F, G, or H may be operated to light the lamp of a corresponding suit indicator E, F, G, or H, so that both the chosen arrow indicator and the chosen suit indicator remain lighted. The design of permits of an independent clock control T opposite each player. This control is, however, of a momentary character, so that when any push button T is operated, the dial of the clock becomes illuminated, yet promptly darkened as soon as the player removes his finger from the corresponding push button.

he indicator legends are ordinarily dark for which reason I have illustrated them with a dotted and hazy efi'ect, except for the legends E and D, which are solid to indicate that they are in operation. To operate the novel signal arrangement, it may e assumed that a player is seated at each side of the table and is ready to operate any of the set of push buttons handily located in front of him. It is noted that the ush buttons are projected from the ed e o the table with an upward slant, where y to exose the markings thereof for ea inspection y the player. It is thus a han y matter to operateany push button without changing the position of the player; also, the push buttons being in the edges of the table, are out of the way, leaving the entire table top clear for the playing of the game.

Assuming that a given player, such as the one opposite the arrow C, is dealing, it is necessary for the operation of the signal arrangement that he operate the push button D immediately in front of him when he has completed the deal. As heretofore explained, the arrow indicator D, to the left of the player, will then become illuminated indicating during the entire play of the particular deal that the player on the left is next to deal. At the same time, with a given trump declared, such as E, it is preferably the rule that the player receiving the bid operate his push button E to illuminate the corresponding trump indicator, as shown in the drawing. Thus, during the entire play, it is evident to all the pla ers that the suit of clubs is the trump. n the next deal, the player opposite the push button A finally op-, crates the same as did the previous dealer, for the purpose of putting into action the next deal indicator, which is the arrow A. However, the act of operating the push button A immediately extinguishes the lamp of the trump indicator E, so that this trump has ceased to exist and the game is open for the selection of a new trump. Needless to say, in a game without trumps, the trump push buttons receive no attention and the circuit in no way interferes with the operation of the dealer indicating signals.

It is thus seen that the novel arrangement makes for positive and unmistakable indications of the factors auxiliary to the playing of the game. It is a simple matter for the player to become accustomed to the operation of the respective sets of push buttons and before long the controls may be operated as a matter of course and without any particular attention or deviation from .the Workings of the game. In other words, the operation of my signal arrangement will become a more or less mechanical incident, quite the same as the handling of chips, the shufliing of cards, or

any other movement which requires no particular attention or concentration on the part of the players. They may therefore concentrate their minds fully upon the workings of the game and save considerable time and argument through the fact that they are relieved of attention and responsibility relative to the auxiliary or secondary features of the game. Also, the nature of ascertaining the time is easily at the convenience of any one of the players, the operation of the proper push button immediately illuminating the clock dial for the brief period necessaryto observe the same.

I have illustrated in Figure 3 a typical electrical wiring system for the operation of my signal arrangement. For this system the push uttons E, F, etc. are of metal, passing through a metallic panel in each side of the table and being held out by springs 10.

The inner end of each push button-except the buttons T'is made with an insulation marginal flange 11. Basically, I provide three-wirin mains 12, 13 and 14, and have illustrated t e application of these to so much of the wiring as is controlled by one player,

only duplication in connection with these mains being required for each additional player.

The main 12 is' simply a current supply for one terminal of all the lamps 8; the main 13 relates to a light restoring relay; and the main 14 is a common connection for any except the T buttons.

Taking any button except T, such as E, the advance thereof connects its inner end with a flexible blade 15 held by a bracket .16 of the main '14. With the current source at 17, a cir-' cuit is now established as follows: Button E, blade 15, bracket 16, main 14, relay magnet 18, conductor 19, source 17, conductor 17*, main 12 and panel 5*. The result is the attraction of relay armature 18 to break contact 13 with the main 13. This move extinguishes any lamp 8 (except for indicator T) that may have been. in operation by breaking at 13. the following circuit: contact 13 main 13, conductor 20, relay magnet 21, relay contact 21*, attracted relay armature 21", conductor 22, lamp 8, conductor 12', main .12, conductor 17, source 17, conductor 19, and relay armature 18. Incidentally, with this circuit open at 13, the power of relay magnet 21 ceases, and relay armature 21 is drawn away by its spring 21 from the relay contact 21, breaking one terminal connection that was in effect between two forwardly-extending conductors 23 and 24 whose fore ends form a jack 25 having a spring cam 25. The con tinued advance of the buttonE first trips the blade 15, which breaks the first-traced circuit,

' permitting the relay armature 18 to be drawn ack by its spring18 to the contact 13 as shown; and then, the button crowds the spring cam 25 to close the jack 25. This action forms a circuit as follows: conductor 23, relay armature 21,conductor 22, lamp 8 (for indicator E) conductor 12, main 12, conductor 17, source 17, conductor 19, relay armature 18*, main contact 13, main 13, conductor 20, relay magnet 21 and relay contact 21 with which relay armature 21 is now in contact by attraction. Thusonly the lamp 8 for indicator E is now in operation; yet, the immediate release otthe button to occasion its self-returnv will not cause the circuit of this lamp to be broken, as the magnetic contact at 21 and 21" will continue without the conductors 23 and 24 in the circuit. The self-return of the button E occasions no? other con- Reading the above operations into the control of the table legends, it 'will be'seen that, for example, the pushing of the button D will first cause the extinguishing of any lamp 8 then in operation (except for indicator T), and that the further advance of the button will light the lamp of indicator D. The suit energizing button should be operated at the same time with the arrow energizing button; at least, thelatter shouldnot be allowed to recede before the suit energizing button has been fully advanced, in order that one button may not extinguish the lamp lighted by the ot er.

Only the circuitifor the button E has been shown in' full and the lamp control connections enclosed as a unit in the dotted rectangle X. For the other lamps-controllable by the player the unit X is represented by the smaller rectanglesZ without detail. For the other playerssimilar connections to the correspond-' Obviously, the time buttons for the other.

players are similarly wired to control the same lamps.

I claim no novelty for the above-described wiring system since it may be variedby the skill of one engineer oranother to bring about the same ultimate result. At the same time, it may easily be conceived that the entire network may be very compactly housed in a Inu comparatively shallow table-top, so asto render the latter light and easy to handle.

Further, with the arrangement properly designed, the parts thereof may be so engl- -neered as to involve asimple construction and an economical cost of production. The current for the electrical make up of the table may be secured by leading a cord to a convenient service outlet in a Wall or floor.

While I have illustrated and described my invention in the preferred embodiment, it will be evident that the same is capable vof many minor changes and refinements, and I desire to claim such changes and refinements as comingwithin the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim Y 1. A card table having spaced tag and botoxes distom surfaces, a plurality of lamp posed between said top and bottom, lamps in said boxes, transparent indicia bearing windows for said boxes extending flush with the top of said table and indicating the four suits of a card deck and the four sides of the card table, and means at each side of said table for illuminating certain lamps in said lamp boxes. 1 I

2. A card table having spaced to and bottomsurfaces, a plurality of lamp xes lac disposed between said top and bottom, lamps in said boxes, transparent indicia bearing Windows for said boxes extending flush with the top of said table and indicating the four suits of a card deck and the four players at the sides of the table, means for illuminating any desired lamp in the lamp boxes having the indicia for the four suits from any side of the table and means at each side of the table for illuminating the next adjacent position to the left to indicate the next dealer.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

- AUGUST KAUFMANN. 

